


A Winter's Ace

by imnotokaywiththerunning



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Gen, classicwhosecretsanta2019, friendship through time and space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21746350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imnotokaywiththerunning/pseuds/imnotokaywiththerunning
Summary: A collection of winter-themed drabbles and double drabbles featuring Ace. Posting daily until December 25th.My gift to therogueofblood on tumblr.
Relationships: Seventh Doctor & Ace McShane
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18
Collections: Classic Who Secret Santa 2019





	1. White

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Classic Who Secret Santa gift for therogueofblood over on tumblr. They asked for Ace and Seventh Doctor family fluff. I hope you like it!

**White**  
Ace was sick of white. White was everywhere on Svartos. Well, what else could she expect of an ice planet, she thought ruthlessly. Just once she wanted to see something other than snow and ice. 

Then a strange man in a linen suit had shown up throwing everything around him into chaos. Wicked chaos. Ace loved it. 

“I’m the Doctor,” the strange man had said. “I travel through all of space and time. Want to come with me?”

“Is there snow through all of time and space?”

“Excellent question,” said the Doctor. “How about we find out?”

Ace grinned. “Wicked.”


	2. Scarf

**Scarf**

“Professor!” Ace whined as she followed the Doctor through almost knee-deep snow. “You said we’d be back at the TARDIS in ten minutes. That was almost an hour ago and it’s cold.”

“We’re almost there, Ace.” The Doctor walked on almost effortlessly. Ace scowled at him. 

“Professor! It’s cold!”

The Doctor stopped so suddenly Ace walked right into his back. He whirled around to catch her before she fell backward into the snow. The Doctor looked down at Ace puzzled, then, “Oh, of course!”

The Doctor reached into one of his many coat pockets and pulled out a multicolored scarf and kept pulling and pulling until Ace’s entire upper body was covered in knitted yarn. A muffled shout came from beneath the massive scarf until a face peeked through to scowl heatedly at the Doctor. 

“Where did this even come from?” Ace grumbled fighting to be seen between the stitches. 

The Doctor smiled. “Oh, it used to be mine. I’ve not worn it in ages though.” He grabbed one end of the comically long scarf to pull Ace behind him again. “I did remember it was rather warm.”

Ace scowled at the Doctor’s back. She hated when he was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I posted the first chapter of this 5 days early because I can't read a calendar. So from now until Christmas, there will be a new chapter posted daily.


	3. Wrapping Paper

**Wrapping Paper**

“I hate this!”

Ace looked helplessly at her room covered in tape and ribbon and gift wrap. She’d been trying for the past hour to wrap the Doctor’s uncooperative gift. All she had to show for it was a messy room and hands full of papercuts. 

“Ace?” The Doctor popped his head around the door, eyes wide as he beheld the chaos. 

Ace fell forward, hiding her unwrapped box. “Professor!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” The Doctor left winking.

Ace leaned back. She blinked. A neatly wrapped box covered in question marks now sat in front of her. “How does he do that?!”


	4. Ornaments

**Ornaments**

The market on Grimshill 3 was a riot of noise and colors. Ace followed behind the Doctor closely trying to take in the bustle of the place without getting lost. She knew she’d always be able to find the TARDIS again should she need to, but she couldn’t rely on the Doctor not to get himself into trouble without her around. 

A loud disagreement between a couple of vendors drew her attention. She eyed them warily. “What do you think that’s about Professor?” She turned to find the street empty beside her. “Professor?” 

No answer. No Doctor. Ace cursed under her breath and marched down the street in the direction she thought (hoped) the Doctor had gone. Why couldn’t he stay still for once?

“Ace!” a voice called as she neared the end of the street. She turned to where the voice came from and sighed in relief as the Doctor bounded up to her grinning broadly. “I’ve got it!”

He held up a small bag smiling proudly. Ace scowled. “Got what?”

“What we came here for, of course! For your jacket.”

Ace took the bag and gingerly opened it. She grinned at the small baseball bat patch. “Thanks, Professor.”


	5. Ugly Sweaters

**Ugly Sweaters**

“No. No way.”

“Oh, come on, Ace,” the Doctor cajoled. “They aren’t that bad.”

Ace scoffed at the two horrendous crimes against fashion the Doctor held aloft in front of him. They were matching knitted jumpers covered in tiny wool Daleks in Father Christmas hats. There was no way she would ever be caught dead in one. She shook her head. “No.”

The Doctor sighed lowering the jumpers in defeat. “Well, then, I suppose I’ll just have to set the explosives for the Cyberman transport ship myself.”

Ace glared. The Doctor grinned. Ace huffed. “Fine. I call the red one!”


	6. Ribbon

**Ribbon**

Ace felt the elastic give way before she heard it snap. She pulled the offending hair tie from her head and scowled at it in disgust. It had been her last one. She’d have to leave her hair down until she could get the Doctor to take them somewhere for her to stock up again. 

She stomped out of her room to the TARDIS console room. She felt ridiculous with her hair flying all over the place. The Doctor looked up confused.

“Something wrong?” he asked. Ace shook her head, hair falling into her face. The Doctor nodded sagely. “Ah.”

Ace growled. “What?” 

“May I?” he asked, pulling a white ribbon from inside his jacket. Ace stared at him blankly. “For your hair,” he clarified. 

Ace shrugged and the Doctor motioned for her to sit on a chair he had pulled from somewhere. Gentle hands brushed through her hair as the Doctor began to braid it. Ace squeezed her eyes shut. The last time anyone had braided her hair had been her mum when she was very small. That had been so long ago, before...before everything. 

“There we go,” the Doctor said tying off the braid with the ribbon.


	7. Jingle

**Jingle**

Ace grinned at her reflection. She cut a dashing figure in her black button-down shirt, snakeskin boots, and leather vest with matching chaps. A black cowboy hat completed the picture. She tipped her hat to the mirror. 

“Ready, Ace?” 

Ace walked out of the TARDIS, twirling as she did. “What’d’ya think, Professor?” 

The Doctor laughed. “Very nice. Silver Dollar City won’t know what hit them.”

Ace beamed. “I still want a gun, though.”

“No guns,” the Doctor scowled. “But will these do?”

The silver spurs added a nice jingle to her steps. God, but Ace loved the American Old West.


	8. Lights

**Lights**

The lights in the TARDIS blinked constantly. Ace would stare at them for hours trying to figure out what they were for. She’d asked the Doctor once and he had given her such a weird convoluted explanation that she had come to the conclusion that he didn’t know what they all meant either.

That was fine with Ace. She liked trying to learn things herself. Her Nitro-9 was her crowning achievement and she’d done that all by herself. And now she was going to learn what all these lights meant and fly the TARDIS. 

The Doctor rarely left the console room, but when he did, Ace set to work. She pulled out her notebook and started pushing buttons. She started with the ones with the angriest flashing lights, finding the problems for each and fixing them. The TARDIS hummed in contentment and after, her explorations went much easier as if the TARDIS itself was helping her.

The Doctor paused as he entered the console room squinting accusatorily at the console. “Something’s different.” Ace shrugged hiding a grin. “What happened to the lights?”

“I fixed them.”

“But--but what do you mean ‘fixed them?!’” he cried. “They weren’t broken!”

“Right,” Ace laughed.


	9. Bows

**Bows**

“Here you go, Ace.”

The Doctor held out a longbow with a grin. Ace frowned. “What?”

“Just aim for the big red light,” he insisted thrusting the bow into Ace’s uncooperative hands. “Careful!” he cried as she almost dropped it. 

“Professor, this is dumb,” Ace grumbled pulling back the bowstring and pointing the arrow in the vague direction of the Doctor’s big red light. She had never shot a bow and arrow in her life. She squeezed her eyes shut and let go. 

An almighty explosion knocked her off her feet. The Doctor smiled down at her. “Well done, Ace!”


	10. Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the drabbles for therogueofblood's gift for Classic Who Secret Santa. Thanks to everyone who's read along. 
> 
> Happy Holidays!

**Red**

Ace’s feet dangled out of the TARDIS door. Her eyes were transfixed on the swirling nebula outside. It was one of the most beautiful things Ace had ever seen. Nearly every color of the rainbow could be found inside it, but the most dominant color was a strikingly vibrant red. The Doctor had told her that it was from all of the hydrogen floating in the massive explosion. Ace loved it. 

“Some call nebulae star nurseries,” the Doctor said, insinuating himself beside Ace forcing her to scoot to make room. “In fact, this is the very nebula where your sun was formed.”

“Really?” Ace asked eyes tracking the slow movement of stardust. 

“Really,” said the Doctor. He looked from the nebula to Ace. “I thought you might like to see where you began.”

Ace nodded spellbound. She didn’t think she’d ever get tired of sights like this no matter how long she traveled with the Doctor. Even when she had been trapped on Ice Planet, she’d never imagined getting to walk among the stars. This was almost more than she deserved. She smiled like she’d never done anything else. 

“Thanks, Professor,” she smiled, her head on his shoulder. 

“Anytime, Ace.”


End file.
